Most people that read this book most likely have chronic pain and want to find different alternatives rather than surgery, drugs and other means. Years ago after having back surgery, I read "The Divided Mind" by Dr. John Sarno (who was acknowledged at the end of this book as a teacher). He studied patients with pain and many related their symptoms to past emotional stress. My back surgery happened right after a divorce and there was a huge amount of stress involved in a accident that caused severe back pain. Yet, the surgery was successful and immediately my excruciating pain went away and never returned 40 years ago. However, I felt like Dr. Sarno's book was on target.

This book proposes something different by addressing the fear that comes with the pain. If there's pain related to stress, then he suggests that one should try to tell yourself that you're going to be fine without the fear and hopefully over time the pain will go away. The book has examples of patients that have been overloaded with chronic pain and this has helped them. It also provides a description of how to get pain-free. In the Appendix, readers will find a list of how one can determine if they have types of pain that can be helped with a mind-body program.

Is it worth a try? Maybe. ( )

This book introduces a method for healing pain.

The author distinguishes between pain caused by structural damage and what he terms neuroplastic pain. To treat the latter we need to target the brain.

Neuroplastic pain is reversible.

The treatment is called Pain Reprocessing Therapy.

After treatment, changes can be seen in fMRI scans of the person’s brain.

The author claims that those suffering from neuroplastic pain can be cured.

They began by treating patients suffering from chronic back pain. Fifty patients received Pain Reprocessing Therapy twice a week for four weeks.

The results exceeded their highest expectations. 98 percent of the patients improved and 66 percent were pain-free/nearly pain-free.

Changes in the brain were centred around the anterior insula, one of forty-four pain regions.

The anterior insula plays an important role in deciding if the brain should generate pain.

“When the brain experiences pain over and over, those neurons get ‘wired together’ and they get better and better at feeling pain. The condition can become chronic.” “Neuroplastic pain is when the brain changes in such a way that reinforces chronic pain.”

Researchers followed people who had recently injured their backs. At first, their pain was active in the normal pain regions of the brain. But when the pain became chronic, it shifted to parts of the brain associated with learning and memory.

Neuroplastic pain is a “fundamentally different kind of pain”. It's a pain that’s got stuck because your brain has learned it well.

Pain Reprocessing Therapy retrains your brain to interpret signals from your body properly. Over time this rewires your brain and deactivates your pain.

We can rewire the brain and unlearn painful symptoms. It is fear that keeps the pain going.

This is what causes neuroplastic pain to become chronic.

“Pain triggers feelings of fear.

The fear puts the brain on high alert,

Which causes more pain,

Which leads to more fear

Which leads to more pain.”

The author provides us with many examples of patients who develop chronic pain, including himself.

One of the things that bothered me about the book was that I felt the author went on and on without getting to the point.

I wanted him to get a move on and tell us immediately how to get rid of the pain, insted of just rambling on.

Eventually, he told us about something he called somatic tracking.

Its first component is mindfulness - “paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment, non-judgementally".

When you pay attention to your pain, mindfully, you’re observing it without fear. Mindfulness deactivates the brain’s fear circuits.

The seconf component of somatic tracking is sending messages of safety to your brain. This significantly decreases fear.

An important component of somatic tracking is paying attention with lightness. When our moods are lightened, we are better at overcoming pain-related fear.

We need to check out how the pain feels. Is it a burning sensation, a tingling sensation, or what? Is it widespread or is it localized? Simply observe the sensation. You don’t need to get rid of it, you don’t need to change it, all you need to do is watch.

Observe the pain with curiosity and zero intensity.

Eventually, the pain subsides. We’re given lots of examples of people overcoming their pain after doing somatic tracking.

I didn’t myself learn to overcome pain after reading the book. I think I would need to actually buy it and read it again, perhaps several times.

We’re told that we need to trust the process.

The book is humorous and easy to read.

Somatic tracking is a way to take care of yourself and make yourself feel safe.

I will return this library book, buy the book and give the process a chance.

If you have pain, I would advise you to buy the book and try out the process, which has helped many. ( )

Most people that read this book most likely have chronic pain and want to find different alternatives rather than surgery, drugs and other means. Years ago after having back surgery, I read "The Divided Mind" by Dr. John Sarno (who was acknowledged at the end of this book as a teacher). He studied patients with pain and many related their symptoms to past emotional stress. My back surgery happened right after a divorce and there was a huge amount of stress involved in a accident that caused severe back pain. Yet, the surgery was successful and immediately my excruciating pain went away and never returned 40 years ago. However, I felt like Dr. Sarno's book was on target.

This book proposes something different by addressing the fear that comes with the pain. If there's pain related to stress, then he suggests that one should try to tell yourself that you're going to be fine without the fear and hopefully over time the pain will go away. The book has examples of patients that have been overloaded with chronic pain and this has helped them. It also provides a description of how to get pain-free. In the Appendix, readers will find a list of how one can determine if they have types of pain that can be helped with a mind-body program.

Is it worth a try? Maybe. ( )